In his new book, On the Brink: Trump, Kim, and The Threat of Nuclear War (Cambridge University Press, 2019), Van Jackson succinctly explains the major issues facing U.S.-North Korea relations since the Korean Armistice Agreement. Eminently readable, On The Brink argues that the 2017 nuclear crisis was a product of a gradual hardening of U.S. policy towards North Korea, as well as the particular characteristics of the current leadership of both countries. The book provides an excellent overview of U.S. policy towards North Korea and provides new, contemporary scholarship on the Obama and Trump administrations.

Beth Windisch is a national security practitioner. You can tweet her @bethwindisch.